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Activating Cellular worth it?

G

GrandCiel

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 1, 2019
170
460
I am considering activating Cellular on my Series 5 SS watch, purchased from Apple, after changing from AT&T to Verizon when my 11 Pro Max is delivered Monday.

I have never activated cellular so assume the change in carriers isn’t a problem.

The extra $10 a month isn’t that big an issue and I do like the idea of leaving the phone at home when I’m out and about at times but for those of you that have it, is it worth it? Do you use it often enough?

How is the quality, how is the quality with a Bluetooth headset?

I answered a few calls on my Series 3 SS but only when within range of my iPhone and I never activated cellular. I was a fun, Dick Tracy like novelty but I have no experience using it a a stand alone phone.

I think I will try it and cancel if I don’t find enough benefits but my SS model comes with it so I am curious.

Thanks.
 
I purchased a cellular watch because they had a deal on the watch and service get both for $20 a month. I have to for small trips and maybe a gym run...
have yet to try it but we will see.
 
I think it depends on how much you could use it, vs. using your phone.

In my case I work from home. So, early morning I head to the gym...Apple watch only and my Powerbeats Pro’s. If I happen to get a Slack work message, I just dictate audio responses through the watch. During the day, I’ll join conference calls with my phone. After lunch, I’ll take a 30-45 minute walk...again, watch and Powerbeats only. I’ll answer messages if I get them and I’ve taken calls from my coworkers and boss while walking. It’s also handy to just go shopping...Apple Watch with Apple Pay setup and I’m good to go.

Call quality is excellent...just like using the phone. The real issue with call quality will be whatever Bluetooth headset you pair with the watch.

In my case, just running around town, it’s pretty much watch only. Being that I’m also into photography, my phone comes with me on any out of town trips, or any get togethers with friends and stuff like that...

As you mentioned, you can cancel anytime so try it for a month and see if it’s worth it to you...
 
GrandCiel said:
The extra $10 a month isn’t that big an issue
Click to expand...

Well, if money is not an issue it will be worth it. The freedom of it that you didn’t have to worry about tethering to iPhone all the time, you will feel like you’re living in the future.
 
aloper said:
I think it depends on how much you could use it, vs. using your phone.

In my case I work from home. So, early morning I head to the gym...Apple watch only and my Powerbeats Pro’s. If I happen to get a Slack work message, I just dictate audio responses through the watch. During the day, I’ll join conference calls with my phone. After lunch, I’ll take a 30-45 minute walk...again, watch and Powerbeats only. I’ll answer messages if I get them and I’ve taken calls from my coworkers and boss while walking. It’s also handy to just go shopping...Apple Watch with Apple Pay setup and I’m good to go.

Call quality is excellent...just like using the phone. The real issue with call quality will be whatever Bluetooth headset you pair with the watch.

In my case, just running around town, it’s pretty much watch only. Being that I’m also into photography, my phone comes with me on any out of town trips, or any get togethers with friends and stuff like that...

As you mentioned, you can cancel anytime so try it for a month and see if it’s worth it to you...
Click to expand...

Thanks. Worth a try I suppose. I am a photographer as well and while I "retired" a couple years ago, was a professional sports photographer for many years. It wasn't my day job but non the less, I had good seats at all the local professional sports events.

Looking forward to testing the 11 Pro camera since all my pro Nikon gear is too big and heavy to take with me for most outings. The 8 Plus was convenient but couldn't compete with a D5 and big glass but I found it more practical.

Just noticed the remote camera control on the Apple Watch. Pretty cool.

I can think of a lot of times leaving a Max sized phone at home would be appreciated.
 
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It depends how you use your watch.

Personally I didn't activate it because I live in a very small country (Singapore) that has wifi almost everywhere and my phone never leaves me. I did consider cellular for when I go jogging with my watch only but to me it's not worth extra S$7.50/mo (local price).
 
Thanks for all the feedback.

Another thought or concern I have. What are the privacy implications? One of the things I don't like about our connected world is the location, browsing and even picked up audio shared without my complicit consent.

Is an Apple Watch with cellular even more insecure than without cellular? There are times I pine for the days without facebook, google, instagram and applications that share our every thought. Times I consider ditching all for a retro flip phone without bluetooth or wifi.

I realize that dates me and later generations don't give it a thought.
 
I’ve got it activated just for the convenience but trust be told, I hardly leave my phone at home ever. Tried to go gym a few times with the watch only which works fine but my gym WiFi requires an authentication page to be filled before it can connect to any device so my watch can’t really connect to it. That’s why I take my phone along. At work I can go between different buildings which is when sometimes I use my watch but otherwise it’s not really of that much use to me at present.
 
I got it activated mainly for running, it’s good to not having to take phone but the reception is nowhere near as good as the phone. 4 bars 4g on iphone means 2-3 bars signal on Watch, 2 bars on phone means lucky to get signal on Watch. :(
 
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GrandCiel said:
Thanks for all the feedback.

Another thought or concern I have. What are the privacy implications? One of the things I don't like about our connected world is the location, browsing and even picked up audio shared without my complicit consent.

Is an Apple Watch with cellular even more insecure than without cellular? There are times I pine for the days without facebook, google, instagram and applications that share our every thought. Times I consider ditching all for a retro flip phone without bluetooth or wifi.

I realize that dates me and later generations don't give it a thought.
Click to expand...
No more or less secure than using your phone on LTE through your cellular carrier.
Your carrier knows where your phone is -- they know which cell tower it's communicating with, so they can triangulate your location to a reasonably small area regardless of your GPS settings.

When your watch is actively communicating with your carrier via LTE, they can do the same thing insofar as location triangulation.

I don't think the watch is transmitting audio without your consent. I'm sure it would have been pretty easily discovered by doing a packet analysis of what data is being transmitted. Besides, it would kill the battery right quick if it did.

Personally, I like having the cellular as a backup should I forget my phone (I usually don't but it's happened a couple times). I also have appreciated the ability to go out for a walk or a run without having to carry my phone with me. There's also a couple places I go where phones aren't permitted (a safety issue due to the potential for distractions), but still being connected for emergencies is nice. Again, may only be for an hour or two at a time, but I feel better being connected. I may only end up using LTE on my watch once a couple times per month, but for me, the extra $10 (T-Mobile) is worth the peace of mind.

Hertz77 said:
I got it activated mainly for running, it’s good to not having to take phone but the reception is nowhere near as good as the phone. 4 bars 4g on iphone means 2-3 bars signal on Watch, 2 bars on phone means lucky to get signal on Watch. :(
Click to expand...
Yes, this is true.
 
Many carriers have/had a free trip of the cellular feature. I’d say try it and put a reminder in your phone for 25 days from now to see if you’re using it.

I love it. I use mine for runs most mornings and for bike rides. I also find that I am less conscious of where my phone is at. Since I can still be reached without it, I don’t always think to have it with me.

As far as reception goes, for those with issues, are you using series 4/5 or earlier ? I recently moved from a 3 to a 5 and notice that the reception is much better. Still not as good as my phone but a definite improvement in reception.
 
I don’t use it often but nice to have when you need it

Although with battery life issues not sure I would use it much
 
Worth is specific to each person. Something is worth only what someone is willing to pay.

That said, I will only get a watch with cellular connection. As coincidence would have it, my iPhone bricked for no apparent reason and my wife needed to contact me. Had it not been for the cellular on the watch, I would’ve missed that call. That one instance alone made it worth it to me even if it was the only emergency instance I have for the rest of my Watch wearing days (which hopefully it was). It came in handy a few other times as well. I always take my phone with me when I leave but that doesn’t mean it will always be available for use for the rest of the day (lost, stolen, battery dies, negligently dropped and broken, bricked, etc...)

Always better to have and not need than to need and not have.
 
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As @Itinj24 mentioned, this is why I have cellular on my watch:
"Always better to have and not need than to need and not have."
While I have my phone 99% of the time, I'll have watch cellular
as backup should I ever lose or break my phone.
 
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I've yet to use it once since activating. Neither has my wife. With the bullshirt taxes and fees, that's $28/month for 2 Apple Watches that I've been paying for quite a while now.

I'm inclined to remove them, but the nagging fact is that they are a good emergency backup. I just feel they are too expensive, and there should be another option.

We should definitely be allowed to 'activate' it , but keep cellular turned off, and not pay the access fee. If cellular is turned off on the device for the entire billing period, they have no legitimate reason to charge me the $10-15 access fee. It should 100% depend on if cellular is active. If I enable cellular at all, I should be charged the access fee for that billing period. If I don't, it should cost nothing.
 
The audio quality is great, not really distiguishable as far as I can tell from the iPhone but I'm using it with my BeatsX only as I only use cellular when I'm running and only usually end up making a call to say I'm going an extra 1/2 hour.

Mostly the data I use for audio streaming as I love to be able to call up anything at whim.

Personally it's the audio and emergency capability that justify it to me and yet there's still an annoyance if I don't have every possible capability enabled so I have to have it :D
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PastaPrimav said:
I've yet to use it once since activating. Neither has my wife. With the bullshirt taxes and fees, that's $28/month for 2 Apple Watches that I've been paying for quite a while now.

I'm inclined to remove them, but the nagging fact is that they are a good emergency backup. I just feel they are too expensive, and there should be another option.

We should definitely be allowed to 'activate' it , but keep cellular turned off, and not pay the access fee. If cellular is turned off on the device for the entire billing period, they have no legitimate reason to charge me the $10-15 access fee. It should 100% depend on if cellular is active. If I enable cellular at all, I should be charged the access fee for that billing period. If I don't, it should cost nothing.
Click to expand...

It sounds like you are in the USA. Doesn't the Apple Watch fall under the list of devices that must be allowed emergency calls even with no SIM/activation?
 
When I activated mine I found that the first 3 months were free, then $10 a month after. In 2 1/2 months I never used it so deactivated it before I was charged.
 
I run almost daily, and also have dogs to walk - and I do both phoneless sometimes and it’s helpful. Also, apparently they are enabling streaming radio - when they do that I’ll leave the phone home even more often.
 
Thanks for all the input. Still not sure if I will activate or not. Received my 11 Pro Max yesterday, changed from AT&T to Verizon today and held off on activating my Apple Watch 5.

I used to be an active runner but a recent hip replacement advised I don't put that impact on my bionic hip so I bike, walk and hike a lot, take my dog where allowed, and many times leave my phone at home. I can still call 911 and don't usually listen to music as I appreciate being unconnected. I will give it a try eventually but still not convinced of the value.
 
The voice recognition, speakers and microphone on the Apple Watch are really excellent--quite loud and clear. Wearing the watch allows me to take calls safely while driving, which is just about worth it all by itself.
 
If it was like $5 per month maybe but, Verizon charges $10 + tax. That $132 per year wasted for something I didn’t use. All these little subscriptions can add up To serious money.
 
GrandCiel said:
I am considering activating Cellular on my Series 5 SS watch, purchased from Apple, after changing from AT&T to Verizon when my 11 Pro Max is delivered Monday.

I have never activated cellular so assume the change in carriers isn’t a problem.

The extra $10 a month isn’t that big an issue and I do like the idea of leaving the phone at home when I’m out and about at times but for those of you that have it, is it worth it? Do you use it often enough?

How is the quality, how is the quality with a Bluetooth headset?

I answered a few calls on my Series 3 SS but only when within range of my iPhone and I never activated cellular. I was a fun, Dick Tracy like novelty but I have no experience using it a a stand alone phone.

I think I will try it and cancel if I don’t find enough benefits but my SS model comes with it so I am curious.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
1. I know it depends on the person, but for me: Yes, it is worth it, even when I don't use it daily.
2. The sound quality is much better with earphones than with the "naked" watch speaker, but in a pinch it will do.
 
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